


Sea Wedding

by Fire_Bear



Series: OUAP Mystical Week [4]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Arranged Marriage, Day 4, Falling In Love, First Kiss, M/M, OUAPEvent Mystical Week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-03
Updated: 2018-01-03
Packaged: 2019-02-28 00:30:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13259823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fire_Bear/pseuds/Fire_Bear
Summary: The mer-prince of the Alteans, Lance, is to marry Keith, the mer-prince of the Galrans. But Lance is nowhere near the site of the ceremony...





	Sea Wedding

**Author's Note:**

> I changed my mind on what I was going to do and this happened. I have more ideas of what would happen in this AU but I'm not sure if I'll actually write them. I mean, I don't have much in the way of a storyline...
> 
> Please ignore my really crappy 'song' lyrics... ^^"

For as long as Lance could remember, he had been told that he would be the prince to bring the Alteans and the Galrans together. He would be the one to marry the Galran's prince, when they were both old enough. Of course, when Lance had been but a mere merboy, he hadn't really understood and hadn't really cared.

Over the years, he had grown excited about it, looking forward to meeting his prince. In order to impress the other merboy when he would meet him, Lance chose to explore his surroundings, searching for pretty shells and stones. In time, he was known for being curious, for being one of the few merpeople who had ventured to the surface, the delicate flaps of scales connecting his arms to his hips creating wings for soaring for moments at a time above the water. He made several necklaces and bracelets and anklets with the prettiest things he could find with his friends Hunk and Pidge.

Then his parents had deemed him old enough to know about sharks and the dangers they posed for the merfolk of Altea. That had been when he'd also discovered that his fiancé was a shark-type merboy. Despite his parents' warnings about sharks, he had thought it would be the coolest thing ever to have a big, scary merman to tell people off for him. He was eager to meet him and his parents arranged one such meeting, letting the Galran people come to them.

When the Galrans had glided silently over them, their shadows covering several mer-houses at once, Lance had been wide-eyed with fear. All of the Galrans were _bigger_ than the Alteans who were fish-based merfolk. Lance had hidden behind his older sister, clutching at her arm as they descended into their palace courtyard. One of the Galrans was much smaller than the rest and seemed to be of a closer size to Lance. He seemed a bit jittery, his tail waving to and fro as they all settled in front of the steps.

So Lance met Keith for the very first time.

Keith was a sand tiger shark merman, one with a reddish-brown tint to the grey tail he possessed. His body was covered in scratches and he carried a blade in his belt. No necklaces adorned him. The only decoration was a circlet made of woven, brown seaweed. He had dark eyes and dark hair and a stern expression. Even when Lance peeked out at him, Keith didn't seem to be bothered about the people around him.

He frightened Lance.

And, when Lance got frightened, he got irritated. After all, he was a mer-prince. He was one of the highest in the food chain. Lance had nothing to be frightened of. Taking a breath, Lance had let go of Allura's arm and swum over to Keith, holding out one of the necklaces he'd made for him.

Lance was never sure why he did it but Keith turned his nose up at it, turning his head away.

It had made Lance furious. He snapped at Keith, insulted him. Keith had been surprised at first but Lance's father had been only partway through an apology on Lance's behalf when Keith retaliated. They had shouted at each other and then they'd wrestled with Keith coming out on top. Lance had screamed at that, shouting and yelling and writhing.

Both of them had been pulled away from each other and Keith's family had returned home. Lance had been sent to his room and forced to write a letter of apology. He'd gotten one back which contained a lot of long words and he decided that it was Keith's older brother, Shiro, who had written it.

Their relationship had only deteriorated from there.

Every time they met, there was an argument. They insulted each other: Lance called Keith's hair stupid and even called him a runt (which he felt bad about when he learnt that Keith was often called that by meaner Galrans); Keith told him he looked chubby and made fun of the fact that he never won a wrestling match.

Eventually, their parents sat them down and sternly told them that they couldn't carry on like this, their marriage was for their kingdoms, for the good of their people. They would have to get along. No more fighting. If there were any more bad ones, they would be sent to live with the other nation in order to show them what each of their lives were like.

Saddened at the thought of marrying without love but determined to do his duty, Lance had accepted their terms. To begin with, they were able to resist speaking to each other. But, the more time they spent with each other on their visits, the more jabs and insults they threw at each other. Neither of them yelled. Neither of them wrestled or hit the other. Neither of them stopped their veiled insults or pointed, passive aggressive comments.

Sometimes, Lance found himself missing the back and forth they had going. At others, he would turn to Keith to laugh at something with him only to remember who he was and insult him instead. His heart began to do odd things. But, as the day of the wedding grew closer, Lance felt his heart sink. He didn't want to marry when there was no love between them. Everywhere he looked, there were couples in love and he desperately wanted that, not this political marriage.

Lance cried the night before the wedding.

* * *

He wasn't sure how much longer it was until the ceremony started but Lance was down at his favourite place in the nearby coral reef. He'd found it once when he was exploring on his own. A whole field of blues and purples mingled with reds and oranges. It was so out of the way that no-one ever appeared when he sat on the large boulder which fitted snug in a little alcove, keeping him out of sight.

On his head was the white crown of his rank. It had been made from a piece of bleached bone and decorated with pearls and shells. Lance had always loved it whenever he had seen it. Around his neck, were more pearls and shells, the white interwoven with blue around the thin seaweed. His tail was partially covered by one of the few garments found in Altea, something made from an old skin so that it was incredibly thin and white with a few spots of blue. Lance had heard mermaids calling them sarongs.

All in all, it was a different ensemble from what he normally wore. Allura had told him he looked pretty. Hunk had said he was handsome. Pidge had declared that he looked like an idiot before she wrapped him in a hug and told him he looked perfect. His parents had sung his praises.

When Shiro had appeared to talk to Allura, he had mentioned off-hand that Lance looked 'really nice' and Lance had fled.

Feeling upset for no good reason, his heart aching, Lance sat on the boulder, wringing his hands or plucking at his sarong. His dark blue tail beat against the stone, trying to dispel the nerves or the worries or whatever it was he was feeling. It didn't work. He tried not to let loose a sob and failed. So he curled up and cried, muffling his sounds as much as possible.

Finally, he calmed somewhat, though he still didn't feel like he could return. So he did what he did best when he was feeling panicked. He sang, making up words to his own little tune.

" _I am stuck. Stuck here._  
_Stuck with what I am and_  
 _What I can do and who_  
 _I can be and- oh!_  
 _When can roam free?_  
 _When can I go further_  
 _Than I have before?_  
 _Without him. Oh,_  
 _But what would I be_  
 _Without my predator._  
 _Do I-?"_

"Lance?" said a hesitant voice, cutting through his nonsense song.

Gasping, Lance looked up to see a shadow cutting across him. Alarmed, he shrank against the stone, wishing he'd thought to go to the surface where he could escape if he needed to. But his 'wings' were no good down here and he was perfectly visible against the rock. He watched the thing turn until it was swimming directly for him. Lance stared as he realised that it was a merperson.

His eyes roved from tail to head as he took the merman in. Obviously, the man was a shark, as he could tell by the arrangement of the fins. A sand tiger shark, if the markings and colouring was anything to go by. Stuck in the merman's belt of seaweed was a sword upon which a small piece of material, about the size of Lance's hand, and made from something much like Lance's sarong was stuck. Instead of the white, it had been made from something which had once been purple and black. His chest was muscled, far more than Lance's body was. A necklace dangled there, made of a material Lance was unfamiliar with, a large, dark opal attached to it and sitting just next to his heart. Thick biceps had pieces of black seaweed tied around them. Around his neck, was more of it, thick enough to obscure his left side and stuck down with paste on one shoulder. Dark eyes stared at him and his dark hair was tied back with a piece of long, floating brown seaweed. On his head, made from something black and twisting, was a prince's circlet, shining black stones adorning it.

Eyes widening, Lance gaped at the merman before him. "Keith?" he said, still a little unsure. It had been a couple of years since they had properly seen each other, since the start of the Galran civil war. Since Lance wasn't privy to the details – his parents trying to protect him, _again_ – all he knew was that a merman named Zarkon had rebelled against Thace and Ulaz's rule. As far as Lance knew, they had driven Zarkon and his supporters away. For now, anyway. Both Shiro and Keith had been fighting in the war – which Thace and Ulaz refused to get the Alteans involved in, despite their willingness to help – but Lance had never considered that Keith would look like... well, that.

"Where have you been?" Keith demanded as he settled carefully on the coral beside Lance. "Everyone's been looking for you!"

"How-How in the Sea Depths did you find me?!" Lance exclaimed. "I've never seen anyone around here befo-"

"I heard beautiful singing," said Keith, quietly. He had his head turned away, staring at the red coral.

"What sing-? Oh."

Keith's lips twitched upwards but Lance couldn't tell if it was a smirk or a genuine smile. Before he could lash out preemptively, Keith said, "It's good to see you again."

Lance stared at him. "What?"

Blinking, Keith looked back at Lance, seeming confused. "It's been a few years. I was never sure I'd see you again. So I'm glad I've had this chance..."

"You speak as if you will be going away tomorrow," Lance said with a frown.

"Won't I be?"

"Why?" asked Lance, wondering if Keith had more fighting to do.

"Why are you out here?" Keith countered.

That made Lance pause, not wanting to admit how panicked he felt. “I don't know,” he said.

Keith hummed at that and they lapsed into silence. Lance fiddled with his sarong, his heart pounding so hard that he was sure Keith could hear him. When he ventured a glance at the shark, Keith was looking back at him. They looked at each other for a moment.

Then, looking away, Keith said, “I’m scared, too.”

“What?” said Lance in surprise. Then Keith's words caught up to him and he scowled. “And who says I’m scared?” he demanded.

Clearly trying to suppress a smile - and failing - Keith shrugged a shoulder. Lance noted that he used the one which wasn't covered. “But it's true. There are a lot of things I’m scared of. This wedding is one of them.”

“But you're a shark,” Lance pointed out. “What can you possibly be scared of?”

“Hurting people,” Keith answered immediately. He paused, seemed to think about something and, just before Lance could speak, he turned his body so he could face Lance. That surprised Lance and it took all his effort not to shrink backwards. “What do you know about the civil war?”

“Well, you’ve won.” Lance paused, growing worried. “Haven't you?”

Again, Keith paused. Then he turned away from Lance: the fish suddenly felt disappointed and Lance didn't know why. “Yeah,” said Keith. “It's over-”

“Don't lie to me!” Lance hissed. “That's all anyone ever does to me! Don't- Don't you do it, too,” he finished, weakly.

Somehow, that made Keith turn back to him. For a moment, he said nothing, biting his lip. Then he smiled, a little sadly, and Lance knew, then, that it was far from over. He was about to be married to someone who would drag him and his people into a war.

“I’ll tell you the truth,” Keith said. “But not right now. A wedding is supposed to be happy, right-?”

“I’m scared,” Lance admitted in a rush. “I’m scared of getting married when I-” He broke off, not wanting to upset Keith any further.

 _Why_ did he not want to upset Keith?

“Yeah,” said Keith. “Me too.”

There was a pause wherein a school of bluefins swam by. Lance watched them, a little jealous that their lives weren't as complicated as his. Beside him, Keith shifted. Out of the corner of his eye, Lance saw him wince as a piece of coral jabbed at him.

Wordlessly, Lance moved over on the boulder. Keith didn't move for a moment but, eventually, he left the coral and carefully sat down beside Lance. For some reason, he made sure he wasn't touching Lance whatsoever, keeping his tail tucked out of the way and bracing himself with his hands. Both if them watched fish swimming by, Lance glancing at Keith occasionally. He had really become rather handsome…

Shaking those thoughts away, Lance turned to Keith. “What happened to you?” he asked, gesturing to Keith's shoulder.

Glancing at him, Keith shrugged his good one. “Nothing to worry about.”

Lance frowned. “Then why is it covered? You haven't covered these ones.” He reached out to Keith's chest, tracing a new wound there. It looked like it had been made with a blade of some sort and it seemed like it had been deep. The scar tissue was still an angry red but it was well on its way to healing, thankfully.

“It was more serious than the others,” Keith answered, mildly.

“How serious?”

“There was a lot of blood.”

“What?!” Lance exclaimed, looking up at Keith in shock. Keith gazed back at him with an odd expression on his face. “What could possibly hurt you that badly?”

“It doesn't matter-”

“Yes it does!”

“Why?” Keith demanded. “Why does it matter to you?”

Lance paused. Why _did_ it matter to him? This was Keith. He got into fights all the time. There were always scratches and cuts and bruises on his pale skin. But Keith's aversion to talking about it suggested to Lance that there was something different about this wound, something different about the fight.

Reaching up and across him, Lance plucked at the edge of the healing seaweed. He heard Keith gasp. “Show me,” he commanded.

“What? No. It’s not healed-”

“I’ll put it back on,” Lance told him, looking up and catching his eye. They stared at each other, Lance marvelling at the various colours in Keith's eyes that he’d never noticed before. “Please,” he said.

It took Keith another moment to give him a nod. Lance made him switch places so he could get to the bandage better. Curling against him, Lance reached up and began to carefully peel the seaweed away from Keith's shoulder. For some time, everything was quiet. They ignored the fish that flitted around them. Lance was the one to break the silence with a quiet gasp.

The wound on Keith's neck and part of his shoulder looked rather like the teeth marks of a shark. A tiny trickle of blood floated out, winding its way through the coral. Lance stared at the wound in horror. “Oh, _Keith_ ,” he whispered. Gingerly, he touched the ravaged skin. Keith winced and Lance began to stick the seaweed back down with a murmured apology. “What _happened_? Who did this to you?” he asked, feeling anger rise within him. It was like nothing he’d ever felt before, this fury directed at Keith's tormentors. He was glad he had to focus on his task or he may have exploded from the coral in a rage.

“Lotor,” said Keith, quietly. “During the Battle of the Valleys, when we drove them off, he came up behind me and bit me. He said…”

“He said _what_?” Lance asked, sharply.

“He said that no-one would want me if it looked like I’d been claimed.”

With his task almost done, Lance paused and leaned back so that he could look at Keith properly. The shark's head was bowed, as if he couldn't bear to look at Lance. That made Lance frown, partly in irritation that some passing comment could upset Keith so much, partly in confusion.

“What does being ‘claimed’ mean?” Lance asked.

Keith jolted as if he'd been poked in the side. He raised his head and stared at him in obvious surprise. “You… Claiming someone means that you are mates and, uh… One of them leaves… obvious marks… on the other.”

“That sounds…” Lance trailed off, thinking that it was a rather pointless thing to do. Yet, at the same time, he felt a fire light within him and he desperately wanted to be ‘claimed’.

He _wanted_ Keith to mate with him.

His realisation made him blush and he ducked his head down to continue his work. “We fish don't do that,” he mumbled, wondering if Keith would even hear him over his pounding heart.

“Oh.”

They stayed silent until Lance had smoothed down the seaweed a final time. “There,” he said. “As good as new. The bandages, I mean, not your neck.”

“Good. We should probably go back.”

Keith's words made Lance shrink away from him. He didn't want to think about the ceremony. Lance was having troubles with his feelings as it was; he didn't want to return to his family to be _told_ what he was feeling which was what would inevitably happen. Biting his lip, Lance decided he needed a little more time. On his own.

“ _You_ should go back,” Lance told Keith, rising from the rock. “I want-”

He was cut off when Keith grabbed his wrist. It wasn't a tight hold. Lance knew he could break it, knew he could swim away. But something made him still, staring down at Keith with wide eyes. Keith was frowning.

"Where are you going?" he demanded.

"I just need a little time to myself," Lance told him, offhandedly. "Let go," he added, though he didn't try to pull away.

"You once told me that you were only going to marry me for duty," Keith said.

Lance blinked. "You remember that?"

"Of course I do."

Sighing, Lance said, "What about it?"

"Are you going to abandon it?" asked Keith, looking him square in the eye.

He wanted to look away as his heart clenched and skipped a beat at the same time. There was something in Keith's determined expression that made Lance tremble in his grasp. How could Lance explain his confused and tumbling emotions when he didn't understand them himself? He felt like a tiny fish caught in the current, unable to stop himself, even as he fought against it.

And the current was leading directly to the Galran sitting before him.

"I-I don't..." Lance trailed off, not sure what he was trying to say.

Keith pulled him closer. "Lance," he said, softly. "Do you want to marry me? Do you want to marry me for your people? Or do you want to marry me because...?" Evidently, Keith couldn't say what they both knew he meant.

"I... Um. Do _you_ want to marry me for duty or... love?"

They both stared at each other, neither of them wanting to admit their feelings. Without warning or any change in expression, Keith pulled Lance towards him. Once Lance had curled up on the boulder again, Keith reached up to his neck. Lance thought for a moment that he was about to take off his seaweed bandage again. Instead, Keith took off his necklace and held it out to Lance.

"Will you marry me?" he asked. As soon as he spoke, his expression changed. Now, Lance could see his hope and fear and he knew then why Keith was scared of this wedding.

That sight, that knowledge, was what helped settled Lance's churning emotions. He knew then why he had panicked and he knew what he wanted.

Biting at his lip, Lance kept his eyes on Keith's as he ducked his head down, allowing Keith to loop the necklace around his neck. He saw Keith's smile as the shark lowered the necklace over his head. The dark necklace was at odds with his white decorations but Lance immediately loved it. As soon as the necklace had settled, Lance took off one of his own.

"Here," he said, with a shy smile. "Accept this if you also wish to marry me."

Keith instantly ducked his head, keeping eye contact. Lance laughed at how eager he was and looped it around Keith's neck. As soon as he had, Keith straightened, his smile widening as they gazed at each other. When Lance only laughed, unable to think of anything to say, the joy so great that he could feel his heart swell, Keith took his hands and raised them, giving them each a quick kiss.

"I am so glad," Keith murmured, glancing up at him through his eyelashes.

"As am I," Lance said. "But I'll be more glad if you kissed me properly."

"Hm?" Keith blinked at him. "What-?"

Extricating his hands from Keith's grasp, Lance reached up, cupped Keith's cheeks and pulled him down. He saw Keith's eyes widen just before his own shut. Gently, he pressed his lips to Keith's and moved them slightly, waiting for a response. Keith did so immediately, tilting his own head further and kissing him back firmly. His tongue brushed against Lance's lips and Lance let them part. Taking advantage, Keith pressed his tongue into Lance's mouth, licking around it. To Lance, it felt like Keith was devouring him – and he didn't mind at all.

They only parted when a fish hit Lance's arm as it swam around them. Pulling away in surprise, Lance barely saw a flash of red as the fish disappeared into the purple coral behind Keith. When he looked back to him, Lance found that the shark was smiling fondly. Lance couldn't resist pressing another quick, chaste kiss to that smile.

"We should return to everyone," Lance said, holding out his hand. Keith took it and Lance twined their fingers together. They swam away together, ready to be married before the eyes of the Sea God.

**Author's Note:**

> Lance is a [Tropical Two-wing Flyingfish](http://oceana.org/marine-life/ocean-fishes/tropical-two-wing-flyingfish). Which I only glanced at the site while looking for fish with blue skin/scales/whatever. I thought it was appropriate with the whole flying giant robot Lion thing.
> 
> Keith is a [Sand Tiger Shark](https://sharkopedia.discovery.com/types-of-sharks/sand-tiger-shark/) because I saw some pictures of them and some of them look a reddish-brown. And also because I was too lazy and short on time to look up other ones...
> 
> Anyways, shortly after the wedding, Zarkon attacks. Or maybe during the wedding, since he's trying to kill Lance and keep the alliance from happening but, whatever. This is why I'm not continuing it at the moment.


End file.
